In the summer of 2016, the federal government decided to implement the new law of integration. One central point of this law is the residence restriction. This restriction forces us refugees to remain in those German states in which we submitted our application for asylum. The problem is that even though the law came into effect only in August 2016, it is supposed to be applied retrospectively until 1st of January 2016. We moved to NRW when this law did not exist. Now we are supposed to leave NRW again. Some Jobcenters haven’t paid us our social benefits for months now – unrightfully!

We have found an apartment here, we have found a school for our children, started a language course, reunited with our families after years of separation, started to live in our new neighborhoods and got to know new friends.

All of this is supposed to be taken away from us now! The law threatens to tear our families apart and forces us to return to those cities, which we have left because of racist attacks and social exclusion.

It was not only the backward effect that has violated our trust – for months we were left in midair without proper information and in silence. We were even given false promises. It is still quite unclear whether the cities we are supposed to return to will offer us a second integration course and where we would have to live there. We are to be sent into the unknown.

All other federal states have decided to not implement this residence restriction in a retroactive manner, only NRW wants to restrict our freedom! In the future, the country even wants to prescribe within NRW, where people have to live for three years - a further worsening of the residence restriction.

The law is supposed to make our integration easier – now it hinders our integration, because we have no safe future!

We therefore demand:

No backward step through the integration law!
- no residence restriction! (Not in the federation, not in NRW, not retroactive!)
- Distribute money, not people!
- Nobody is allowed to decide without us on how we should "integrate" ourselves - we want a right to speak!

We will be demonstrating on the 19th of November (Around 3 p.m. at “Platz der deutschen Einheit”) in Düsseldorf against the residence restriction. Be in solidarity with us - join us!

The European Human Rights guarantee every human being to move freely within a country and to choose the place where one would like to live freely